Jefferson attorney seeks to open juvenile courts

Feb. 12, 2013

Written by

Jason Riley

Savannah Dietrich, center, speaks to the media with attorney Travis Lock, left, after a case hearing in the juvenile court at the Hall of Justice. / Aaron Borton/ Special to The Courier-Journal

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If Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell has his way, Kentucky’s judicial system could undergo a drastic overhaul in the coming year — with a severe loosening of some of the strictest juvenile court secrecy laws in the nation.

O’Connell has proposed a bill that would lift the cloak of confidentiality in juvenile court, following through on a promise he made in July amid controversy over the high-profile case of 17-year-old Savannah Dietrich, who’d been threatened with a contempt charge for tweeting the names of two boys who assaulted her.

Under the proposal, all felony cases involving juveniles aged 13 or older would be open to the public, and other cases in juvenile and family courts would be presumed to be open unless the judge or one of the parties involved could show a good reason to close the hearing.

If a judge decided to close a juvenile court hearing, the court would have to make written findings of fact to support the closure.

Also, juvenile and family court records would be open unless the case was closed to the public.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” O’Connell said in an interview, paraphrasing former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis‘s comments on the benefits of openness and transparency. “Having the proceedings open and records available will give everyone the opportunity to hold public officials accountable.”

It would be a significant change for Kentucky’s courts, which is one of only 11 states that bar any access to juvenile proceedings.

Yet, efforts to open juvenile and family courts in Kentucky have failed in the past; for example, legislation in 2006 to open juvenile courts failed despite the support of both Republican Lt. Gov. Steve Pence and Democrat Irv Maze, who was then Jefferson County attorney.

Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, who is a past chairman of the House judiciary committee, said “it’s going to be a very contentious issue,” with some child advocates wary of the possible negative consequences that an open court could have on juveniles.

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“I’d say the chances are rather slim right now,” she said, adding however, that “I think perhaps violent crimes or crimes of a sexual nature deserve a look.”

The local public defender’s office quickly voiced its opposition.

“The reason confidentiality is so important is so juveniles don’t get labeled a criminal for the rest of their lives and to give them a chance for treatment and rehabilitation,” said Pete Schuler, Chief Juvenile Defender at the Louisville Public Defender’s office and a member of the state’s juvenile justice task force, which heard O’Connell’s proposal in November.

Also, Schuler noted that there is already an exception to Kentucky’s juvenile court confidentiality rule that allows judges to open cases for “good cause,” pointing out that then District Judge Angela McCormick Bisig used that exception when opening the Dietrich case last summer.

“Before drastically trying to change the (law), if they want the case open they should just ask for the case to be open,” Schuler said, arguing that the county attorney’s office never requests juvenile cases be open.

Kentucky Chief Justice John Minton said in a statement that while he hadn’t seen the language for the proposed bill, “in general I have been on record in the past in favor of open courts. I still maintain that position and look forward to seeing any legislation that would forward the transparency of Kentucky courts.”

State Rep. John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee didn’t return phone messages but has said in a past interview that the Dietrich case “illustrates the pros and cons of open vs. closed courts” and has “helped raise awareness of the issue.”

However, he said in the August interview with the newspaper that he had discussed the case with several judges who described it as “atypical.”

There is no sponsor for the bill but O’Connell said he hopes to have it introduced during the second week of the legislative session that begins Tuesday.

O’Connell said he has spoken with House and Senate members of the judiciary committee as well as the juvenile code task force, among others throughout the state.

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“I think there is generally an openness to expanding the openness of juvenile and family courts,” he said in an interview last week. “The degree of which will be something I’m sure will be subject to debate or discussion.”

O’Connell said the timing may be right this year, given not only the Dietrich case, which attracted world-wide attention, but others such as that of Emily Ball, an 18-year-old from Covington put on probation for luring a boy to his death in February 2009.

As part of that case, Kenton Circuit Judge Martin Sheehan criticized many failures in the system, including the secrecy of juvenile court proceedings, and asked state leaders to consider revisions to the juvenile code, according to a Cincinnati Enquirer story.

“Consider some modification of, and exceptions to, our confidentiality statutes which would foster great transparency, oversight and accountability when something goes horribly wrong.”

In the Dietrich case, the teen, frustrated by what she felt was a lenient plea bargain for two teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her and circulating pictures of the incident, lashed out on Twitter, criticizing the court system, naming the boys and prompting defense attorneys to ask a judge to hold her in contempt for violating a confidentiality order.

The contempt motion was dropped after The Courier-Journal published a story that prompted an avalanche of outrage, but the case came under further scrutiny amid claims that prosecutors and judges had handled the case inappropriately.

And Bisig and O’Connell’s office both have acknowledged the system did not work as well as it should have in handling the case.

In an interview Monday, Dietrich said she believes that felony cases, at the least, should be open to the public to ensure that they are being handled properly.

“I think the public should know how the judges that we voted for are handling things,” she said. “It’s only fair we be able to access (the hearings) and the records. I hope this will prevent a lot of the conduct like what happened in my case from happening again and put more pressure on the prosecutor, judge and all parties to do their jobs.”